>> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> white house press secretary karoline leavitt discussed the shooting of two national guard troops in washington, d.c. and strikes off boats of the venezuelan coast during a press conference with reporters. her remarks run nearly 40 minutes karoline: good afternoon, everybody. karoline: good afternoon, everybody. we had technical difficulties but i think we are ready to rock. i'll begin this week with some scheduling announcements for president trump's very busy week

ahead. tomorrow, president trump will host his ninth cabinet meeting of the year alongside his incredible cabinet who continue to deliver for the american people at a record pace. later in the afternoon tomorrow, the president will make an announcement in the oval office on his initiative to create trump accounts to give the next generation of americans a jumpstart on savings. it will be a very exciting announcement indeed, especially for all of the parents across the country with young children and babies. on thursday, president trump will host the presidents of the republic of rwanda and the democratic republic of congo to sign the historic peace and economic agreement that he brokered. on thursday night, the president and first lady will celebrate the lighting of the national christmas tree on the ellipse. on friday, president trump will attend the fifa world cup final draw at the kennedy center. you will be seeing and hearing from the president every day

this week. you have me today and he'll take on the rest of the week himself. i would like to address the horrific tragedy that took place in our nation's capital last week. a foreign terrorist that the biden administration failed to properly vet ambushed two members of the west virginia national guard who were honorably serving here to keep the residents and visitors of washington, d.c. safe. u.s. air force staff sergeant andrew wolfe was severely wounded in the attack and remains hospitalized fighting for his life. tragically, u.s. army specialist sarah beckstrom died of her wounds. she was 20 years old. president trump and the white house are praying for andrew's full recovery at the request of his parents and their personal phone call with the president over the weekend and we are keeping sarah's family and friends in our prayers during this unimaginable difficult time. sarah and andrew represent the very best of america.

two young patriots who were willing to put on the uniform and risk their lives in defense of their fellow americans. both of them embody the profound words spoken by jesus christ in the gospel, greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. sarah and andrew are heroes and we will never forget their sacrifice. that means ensuring the monster responsible for this atrocity is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. it means reckoning with why this atrocity was allowed to happen in first place so that it may never occur again. here are the facts. the terrorist who gunned down american soldiers blocks away from the white house and in ambush was an afghan national who was flown into our country by joe biden's administration in september 2021 in the chaotic wake of their botched withdrawal

from afghanistan, one of the most embarrassing moments in the history of our great country. joe biden's historic failure in afghanistan continues to haunt this country and our men and women in uniform. not only did the surrender lead to a suicide bombing in kabl but now national guard troops were shot on u.s. soil by the same kind of enemy. we continue to live with the deadly consequences of joe biden's horrific leadership. nearly 100,000 afghans were recklessly released into the united states with little to no vetting with no regard to the disorder and violence this would unleash on american communities and american culture. reportedly, thousands of these investors and unknown individuals were flagged to the biden administration for national security, public safety and fraud concerns but the terrifying truth scha the afghanistan debacle is a small part of the democrats' complete

and total betrayal of the american people in the biden years. the tragedy we just witnessed is a reminder that unfold -- untold thousands of criminals were invited into our country and remain here to this day. the border is secure thanks to president trump but the threat in our interior remains real and urgent. these public safety threats are already inside our land and president trump was elected on a promise to find and remove them and he has already taken significant steps and made significant progress towards fulfilling this promise. but there is more work to be done because president trump believes that he has a sacred obligation to reverse the calamity of unchecked migration in our country. any individual who threatens our national security or our citizenry will be subject to

removal. president trump has already permanently paused the migration of foreign nationals from third world countries that pose a very high risk to the united states. for too long, past american presidents supported self-destructive immigration policies that allowed foreigners who outright hate our country and have no interest in assimilating into our culture, they've allowed these individuals to flood peaceful american communities. this disastrous approach has drained our welfare program, driven up the cost of housing, suppressed wages and jeopardized the safety of law-abiding american citizens. in fact, according to a new bombshell report from the "new york times," somalian migrants in minnesota have defrauded nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funded benefits under democrat governor walsh's leadership. president trump is putting an end to this dangerous america-last approach. his position is rooted in common sense.

in the wake of last week'sa, trottity, it is more important than ever to finish carrying out the president's mass deportation operation. america cannot allow millions of unvetted immigrants to be rewarded with amnesty. they must go back to their home countries. it is also essential to immediately address the massive fraud and corruption that has been going on for decades in other aspects of our immigration system most notably with asylum claims. millions of people who have come here under false pretenses now enjoy temporarily legal status. president trump is ending this scam, as well, and i would point out that the democrats have tried to block this administration from doing so at every turn with lawsuit after lawsuit. the hard truth is that even when it comes to our legal immigration system, past presidents have failed to ensure

that all prospective citizens love america, will add value to our communities and will assimilate into our culture. leaders have a duty to defend and advance the interests of their own people, not foreign nationals. leaders also have a duty to preserve the integrity and character of our nation's national identity. that is why president trump is more committed than ever to fully restoring american softenty by keeping our borders security, removing all illegal invaders and rebuilding a legal immigration system that makes sense and benefits our country. president trump has no higher responsibility than to defend our homeland and our people and he will never waiver in doing so. i will open it up to questions and we'll lead with isabel brown, a popular face on television these days. she's built a great independent media podcast and platform with the daily wire and i appreciate you being here, isabel.

>> i appreciate the previously. many americans in light of these recent events you mentioned are starting to say that we are being innovated as a country culturally and logistically when it comes to immigration and we know that immigration without assimilation is indeed invasion. given the remarks from v.i.p. vance on a college campus about dramatically reducing legal immigration to address this crisis, president trump's posts last week about individuals who may be noncompatible with western civilization, there are plans behind the scenes to implement a temporary immigration moratorium, for example, in light of what the american people might be calling for? karoline: it's a great question and i think i spoke to heart of your question in my opener. i would add that the trump administration has done more to limit immigration both illegal and legal than any administration in history and i will walk you through some of the actions we have taken.

the trump administration issued a travel ban for 19 countries including afghanistan, special immigrant visas have been paused since the tragic shooting last week. rove gee admissions were suspected -- suspended for afghans from this administration from day one and refugee admissions in this country are essentially at zero with the exception of africans fleeing persecution in africa. visas have been revoked for those who do not align with our country's national interests. the secretary of state has the right to do that and we have taken unprecedented action to do that. we are pausing asylum applications for additional vetting, as well. the president has made tremendous progress on this front and it's so crucial that we not only secure the borders

which the president did in record time. we have zero illegal aliens entering into the country month after month but we also are taking a look at those who are already in the interior of our country and removing them if they are here illegally and also looking at these visas. having a visa in the united states is not a right, it is a privilege. the secretary of state, if you are deemed contrary to our country's national interests, has the right to revoke that privilege. thank you. gabe? >> regarding venezuela, the president said yesterday that secretary hegseth had denied that second strike, the reported second strike, on an alleged drug boat on, the secretary said to the president that didn't happen. to clarify, i want you to hear this out. in his social media post, secretary hegseth said u.s. operations in the area were lawful and that the media

reports were fabricated. to be clear, is the administration denying the second strike happened or did it happen and the administration denies that secretary hegseth gave the order? karoline: the latter is true, gabe. president trump and secretary hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco artist groups are -- terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting florence with the you -- in accordance with the laws of war. admiral bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the united states of america was eliminated and i would add one more point to remind the american public why these lethal strikes are taking place. because this administration has des designated these narco terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations. the president has a right to

take them out if they are threatening the united states of america or bringing illegal narcs and under the previous administration there was enough fentanyl trafficked into our country to kill every american man, woman and child many times over so that's why you've seen a drastic difference in this administration's policy. >> to be fair, to clarify, admiral bradley gave that order for the second strike. karoline: and he was well within his authority to do so. >> the president several days ago said it was his intention to pardon the former president of honduras who was a convicted drug trafficker and yesterday on air force one the president said if someone sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail the rest of his life. how is that different than what the administration is accusing

venezuela's nicholas maduro. karoline: he said the people of honduras have highlighted to him how the former president hernandez was set up. this was a clear biden over-prosecution. he was the president of this country in the opposition party, opposed to the values of the previous administration and they charged him because he was president of honduras. there were other egregious facts that came out during this trial and i would encourage you to report on them. his court appointed lawyer was only given three weeks to prepare for trial. he shared that his conviction was lawfare by the party that struck a deal with the biden administration. hernandez has highlighted that there was no independent evidence presented and his conviction was based on testimony from admitted criminals who hoped that cooperating would reduce their own sentences.

he's within his right to sign clemency for whomever he deemed worthy of that. >> you said that the follow-up strike was lawful. what law is it that allows no survivors? karoline: the strike conducted on september 2 was conducted in self defense to protect americans in vital united states interests. the strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict. >> on this pardon for the honduran president, doesn't it all undercut the administration's messaging, while you have these congressional republicans defending the strikes on the narco terrorists and then a pardon for a convicted drug trafficker. does that make it more difficult to defend the administration's policy? karoline: i don't think so, jackie. i think president trump has been quite clear in his defense of the united states homeland to stop these illegal narcotics from coming to our borders

whether by land or by sea and he's made it clear he wants to correct the wrongs of the weaponized justice department under the previous administration and i will call you on because we're wearing matching blazers today. >> to be clear, to clarify, did admiral bradley order that second strike because there were still survivors after the initial strike? karoline: as i read for you, admiral bradley worked well within his authority and the law. he directed the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat of narco terrorists to the united states was completely eliminated. >> was the initial order from secretary hegseth everyone be killed and did that come from president trump? karoline: i saw that quoted in a "the washington post" story. i would reject that the secretary of war ever said that. the president has made it quite clear that if narco terrorists are trafficking illegal drugs towards the united states, he has the authority to kill them and that's what this administration is doing.

>> the m.r.i., president trump yesterday said he would release the results of his m.r.i. is that happening right now? karoline: it is happening right now. as -- this is a summary from the president's physician and he'll release it right now. i think my team has it teed up for you. as part of president trump's comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health. the purpose is preventive to identify any issues early, confirm overall health and ensure the president maintains long-term vitality and function. president trump's cardiovascular imaging was perfectly normal. no evidence of arterial narrowing of blood floor -- flow or the heart or chamber also, with.

there are no signs of inflammation or clotting. his cardiovascular system shows excellent health. his abdominal imaging is also perfectly normal. everything evaluated is functioning within normal limits with no acute or chronic concerns. in summary, this level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at president trump's age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health. we will provide that to you. i think that's quite a bit of detail and in the effort of transparency, the president promised it last night and we have delivered today. there you go. >> back to venezuela, can you confirm that president trump will be hosting a meeting of his national security team in the oval office today on venezuela and what are they going to discuss in are they hoping to reach a final decision on that. karoline: i will confirm that the president will be meeting with his national security team on this subject and on many matters. he meets with his national

security team often. he's the commander-in-chief, it's part of his responsibility to ensure that peace is ongoing throughout the world. i'm definitely not going to detail the specifics of a meeting between the president and his national security team that's taking place in the oval office but i'm happy to confirm that meeting is taking place for you. >> can you tell us, what's the position on whether u.s. troops on the ground, the possibility there? i know you've answered that before but what's the current -- karoline: in venezuela? i think my previous answer stands. there's many options at the president's dissolve on the table -- disposal on the table and i'll let him speak on those. >> the u.s. announced a trade framework deal with the united kingdom on pharmaceuticals where they will pay 25% more and the savings theoretically would go back to american consumers. what guarantees are that the savings would go back to the american consumer, not sucked up by the company? karoline: i'll get you the answer to that question after the briefing. >> the american rescue plan,

funded a number of universal income -- the american rescue plan funded a number of universal basic income programs. now cook county, ill -- illinois, is extending that program into 2026. what does the white house think of that? karoline: i will also get you an answer on that. go ahead. >> in the interest of transparency, does the white house support releasing the department of defense's video of those september 2 strikes on the military boats and separate topic on presidential pardon power, why did the president commute the sentence of david gentile, a private equity executive, prosecutors say he defrauded $1.6 billion with thousands of victims including veterans, farmers, teachers. why was he pardoned? karoline: to your first question, that's definitely not

a decision for me to make. i would defer you to the department of war. that's also a decision for the president himself to make. with respect to that pardon, he issued a commutation for mr. gentile, c.e.o. of gbp holdings. gbp disclosed to investors the possibility of using capital to pay distributions rather than funding them from current operations. even though this was disclosed to investors, the biden administration claimed it was a ponzi scheme. gbp specifically told investors what would happen. at trial the government was unable to tie fraudulent representizations to mr. gentile >> say that these people were

defrauded. karoline: i just read you a detailed summary of why the commutation was maid. in the middle with the red tie. andrew, go ahead. >> early resignation, reports last week indicated other house republicans might consider doing the same. does the president have concerns in light of the reports about other house republicans potentially leaving early, as well as the other announced retirements that we saw in the last couple of days? karoline: i think the president maintains very good relationships with the vast majority, with the exception of one or two. i think many in this room know who i'm referring to, very good relationships with members of capitol hill within the republican party and the president clearly is the unequivocal leader of the republican party. it was a recent cnn poll that showed that more than 90% of republicans support president trump as the leader. he maintains very good relations

as does his team at the white house and of course we have a slim margin in the house and the president wants that to continue. andrew, go ahead. >> venezuela strike, you said that second strike was in full correspondence with the law of armed conflict. the navy's law of war says that specifically firing on survivors from a wrecked vessel is an example of a war -- forbidden under u.s. law and the law of armed conflict so how was that second strike following the law of armed conflict? karoline: i would reiterate that the strike was conducted in international waters in accordance with the law of armed conflict and since someone asked about congress i want to add that secretary hegseth spoke to

members of congress who may have expressed concerns over the weekend and there have been 13 bipartisan briefings to congress on the venezuelan strikes. there have been a number of document reviews from members of congress to review the classified d.o.j. office of legal counsel problem and related -- opinion and related documents. 2/3 of democrat members and they have been made available to all 100 senators, all 435 members of the house and to general counsels of the relevant committees on a bipartisan basis for their review. >> you said leaders have a duty to preserve the integrity and character of our nation's national identity. can you explain what you mean by our nation's national identity and integrity and character and how would refugees, people

coming from war torn places seeking a safe haven in america, like many of our forebears in this room, not add to our nation's integrity and character and identity. karoline: what does not add to our character and integrity is refugees who come here under the alleged plight of asylum and fleeing persecution and come to the united states to abuse our system and rip off american taxpayers and the "new york times," to their credit, they did write about how somali immigrants in minnesota have been ripping off american taxpayers. in fact, 86 people have been charged in a rampant and widespread fraud scheme spanning multiple programs in minnesota. 78 of those people are somali, 91% of them charged. so far, 59 of those people have been convicted for their roles in fraud plots that have stolen one billion dollars from

taxpayers. in one scheme, and this is egregious, a non-profit and its affiliates with the somali migrants claim to have fed tens of thousands of american children during the pandemic and were reimbursed for those meals by taxpayers. prosecutors found that almost all of those meals were never delivered to hungry children. those organizations' leaders spent the money on houses, luxury cars and real estate in turkey and kenya. another scheme involved hundreds of organizations who were reimbursed for services that were supposed to help people at risk of homelessness. those services were never provided. all of this has happened under democrat leadership in a democrat-run state where these refugees, these migrants are coming to the united states, abusing our system, draining our resources that should be going to law-abiding taxpayer -- tax paying americans and this president is not going to put up with it anymore. rachel? >> to follow back up on "the

washington post" reporting, so much of the concern from democrats and republicans is focused on the survivors. why won't the administration either confirm or guy or reveal whether or not there were survivors after that initial first strike and what imminent threat to survivors pose who were clinging presumably to the wreckage of that boat? karoline: i think you are not listening fully to the statement i provided. admiral bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was totally destroyed and the threat to the narco terrorists to the united states was eliminated and for any further questions about his thinking, i would defer you to the department of war. >> to follow up, on the administration's policy when it comes to survivors. was there a change in policy after this strike on september 2? "the washington post" is reporting that these two survivors were killed after a second strike but then in october, two people were rescued

and returned to colombia and ecuador. there was a decision to handle survivors differently after these strikes? karoline: not to my knowledge. >> the president confirmed that he spoke to the venezuelan leader, are are you tribe to negotiate his -- trying to negotiate his departure on an asylum deal? karoline: in the effort of transparency, there you go, you got your confirms -- confirmation. i'll let him speak further if he wishes to. >> headed to moscow, some sort of ukraine agreement? karoline: i think the administration feels optimistic. you've seen that the president's entire team including special envoy witkoff and secretary rubio and the vice president and the president himself, secretary hegseth, as well, have been working so hard on this effort and they all really want to see this war come to an end. so just yesterday, sunday, i

believe that was yesterday, they had very good talks with the ukrainians in florida and now of course special envoy witkoff is on his way to russia. this is the shuttle diplomacy where we speak equally with both sides and put points on paper. as for the details, i will let the negotiators negotiate but we feel quite good and we're hopeful this war can finally come to an end. >> i've got a question about ukraine and then clarification about immigration changes happening. on ukraine, president trump briefly yesterday said that corruption issues there were not helpful to the peace process following the resignation friday of president zelensky's top aid. we were told that there's no indication there's been any widespread corruption involving u.s. resources in ukraine. what is the trump administration's view of corruption issues and how is

that impacting? karoline: as he said last night, corruption is never helpful and he does want noci-- to see american tax dollars taken advantage of which is why he's stopped the endless checks to fund this war. the united states is selling weapons. it does not degrade the administration's determination to see this war come to an end but i think it exemplifies the president's desire to put the american people and american taxpayer first. >> on immigration, you emphasized there would be a review of the afghans settled here under the previous administration. what should the two million people with pending asylum claims or roughly million people from the 18 other countries of concern know about what's going

on and the review, what's the status are all these other people? karoline: they're paused for review and the department of homeland security is taking this very seriously because we are not going to allow soldiers like we saw last week to be gunned down at the hands of these foreign nationals who have the privilege of coming to the united states of america and unfortunately this is not the only example of a dangerous afghan who was let in by joe biden who harmed the american people. there was an afghan through operation allies welcome who shot and wounded two fairfax, virginia, police officers during a traffic stop. he was killed by return fire after declaring, quote, i should have served with the expletive, taliban. two afghan nationals were given legal status by the biden administration who was arrested for plotting a terrorist attack in 2024. they possessed hundreds of rounds of ammunition and pledged

allegiance to isis. there was an afghan national on the terror watch list apprehended by border patrol in 2024 but released into our country by the biden administration. let's just highlight the absurdity of that. border patrol apprehended a terrorist and then the biden administration, because of their lax policies, still allowed him to come into the united states of america. i think everyone in this room whether you want to admit it or not does not want that individual living alongside you in your american neighborhood and that individual was later arrested again after being allowed to live in the u.s. at large for over a year. another one, a criminal illegal alien from afghan was arrested by i.c.e. in 2025, convicted of second degree assault, previously allowed to stay in the country by the biden administration -- i have several more examples here i'm happy to provide them. john? >> happy thanksgiving to you and your young family. hope you enjoyed it. two questions unrelated. the first back to afghanistan,

my son and i walked by the horrific shooting less than one hour before it happened so for anybody that's here, this thing's real. you outlined all of these unvetted afghans that -- that were let in by biden. we had one the other day that was going to build up a d.h.s. building. can you be specific on what the trump administration is doing now to revet those that are here so that we don't get a repeat of what we had wednesday night? karoline: i can tell you two top-level things and defer to you d.h.s. for more specifics as they are leading this effort and i can assure you secretary noem is on the ball. they have an all-hands-on-deck effort with resources going towards this but we have paused all asylum adjudications and the special immigrant visas have been paused and i would point

out one more time that the biden administration was responsible for the original sin that led to this tragic killing last week, the botched withdrawal from afghanistan. he was responsible for operation allies welcome which is something that this white house and the people behind this podium in the last administration fully and whole hrstedly embraced and assured the american people there have been no harm to them and that unfortunately and tragically has not turned out to be the truth. ask the families of these two brave national guards men, one who is no longer with us and one fighting for his life. i know the president is focused on these efforts and why it's important that the mass deportation efforts continue. >> the white house today launched a new fake news portal which i found interesting. what is your objective with

that, ultimately and are you going to name the news networks and are you going to name some of the correspondents, some which may be here today. karoline: i'm glad you noticed, much to the dismay of some of your colleagues. it goes to our premise on day one to hold the media accountable because unfortunately and we deal with this all day every day around here, there are so many fake stories that are unfortunately written that have inaccurate characterizations of meetings that took place and it's based on anonymous sourcing and the standard for journalism has dropped to such a historic low in this country. we deal with it every day with an anommous source call up a reporter in washington and say, i heard this and the next thing you know it's on the front page of "the new york times." it's incomprehensible. we appreciate the journalists who reach out for comment and

try to get things right but overwhelmingly the fake news we see pumped out of this building on a day-to-day basis is honestly overwhelming to keep up with it and coloneltage -- constantly have to defend against the fake news. one fake news story from the weekend from the "new york times" that took about one third of the president's daily calendar and daily schedule and said that he's doing less than he did in his first term or he might not be fit for the job. that is unequivocally false and deeply unfortunate the story was written by the same reporter who wrote this. biden is doing 100% fine after tripping while boarding air force one. same outlet, same reporter who wrote that president trump is not fit for the job? are you kidding me? you see him almost every single day. he is taking meetings around the clock. other one, biden declared quote

healthy and vig vigorous after his first presidential physical. same reporter, same outlet who wrote falsely over the weekend that president trump is not fit for the job. i can assure you he absolutely is. you see that with your own eyes on a daily basis and tia has gin you three detailed reports on the state of the president's health so with that i will leave you all and we will see you tomorrow. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captions performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: on tuesday, the supreme court hears oral argument on whether a faith based pregnancy center can sue a state they claim is violating their first amendment rights

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